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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-18-2012 09:26 AM

VetMike

I was writing about the M700PRO which, as listed on the ICOM site, operates on the frequencies I listed. It does not operate in the Marine VHF band. I am aware of the distinction between the amateur and marine radio licenses.

According to the Icom web site, the M700PRO transmits on 1.6MHz to 27.5MHZ (160M thru 12M bands) and receives on 1.6 to 29.999Mhz. The amateur VHF band is the 2M (144 to 148MHz.); marine VHF is 156 to 157MHz and air VHF is 108 to 136MHz. Thusly, you could transmit on the 160M to 12M ham bands and receive up to the 10M band. This frequency range also covers the shortwave and medium wave bands wherein you will find all sorts of interesting radio stations (legal and illegal) from all over the world.
The bands (frequency range) this radio transmits on are restricted to General Class licensees. FCC Part 97 states that a US documented vessel must have a properly licensed person to operate an amateur radio even outside territorial waters. Therefore, you would need a General Class license to transmit on this radio IF you are US documented or you are operating in US territorial waters. The ARRL website (American Radio Relay League | ARRL - The national association for AMATEUR RADIO) is a good place to start and eham (eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site) provides practice exams. Good luck and enjoy!

VetMike,

The first paragraph is dead on.

The second paragraph is wrong/misleading as stated.

The "General Class license" you refer to is a HAM LICENSE. It allows you to transmit on the ham bands only. The M710 is a marine radio, and to transmit on the marine SSB bands you need both a ships Station License and one or another commercial radiotelephone permits, the lowest of which is the Restricted Radiotelephone Operators permit (RR).

In your mind it's easy to keep these separated: ham licenses are good for operation on the ham bands only, while marine operator permits are needed to operate on the marine SSB bands.

Bill

01-17-2012 09:36 AM

VetMike

According to the Icom web site, the M700PRO transmits on 1.6MHz to 27.5MHZ (160M thru 12M bands) and receives on 1.6 to 29.999Mhz. The amateur VHF band is the 2M (144 to 148MHz.); marine VHF is 156 to 157MHz and air VHF is 108 to 136MHz. Thusly, you could transmit on the 160M to 12M ham bands and receive up to the 10M band. This frequency range also covers the shortwave and medium wave bands wherein you will find all sorts of interesting radio stations (legal and illegal) from all over the world.
The bands (frequency range) this radio transmits on are restricted to General Class licensees. FCC Part 97 states that a US documented vessel must have a properly licensed person to operate an amateur radio even outside territorial waters. Therefore, you would need a General Class license to transmit on this radio IF you are US documented or you are operating in US territorial waters. The ARRL website (American Radio Relay League | ARRL - The national association for AMATEUR RADIO) is a good place to start and eham (eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site) provides practice exams. Good luck and enjoy!

01-14-2012 10:57 PM

sck5

"It surprises me that there isn't better technology to integrate a modem with the SSB, such as an iPad app. I find downloading a Grib via SSB through a Pacor modem onto a laptop, then converting it into a readable file is WAY TOO COMPLICATED for the 21st century.

I need an app for that!! There should be a way to connect the iPad to the SSB, dial a freq and press a button. Seriously. "

There is. With Airmail and an ICOM 802 it is all automatic and controlled by pushing a button in the software on your laptop. Yes, you do have to make sure you are on a frequency that has decent reception for your location and time of day but the software makes it very easy.

As for the SSB ship station license - it does NOT convey to a new owner. You need to get your own. Whether the previous owner tells the FCC he sold the boat is not your problem - unless you think you can use his license and dont get your own.

01-11-2012 01:08 PM

Minnewaska

Marine SSB is still the most cost effective communication for offshore passages and will probably remain so for some time. Satellite communication is far superior, but very expensive. Very very expensive.

To answer your question, I don't use it much. Truthfully, only for an annual long passage. However, this past year I got a Grib file reader for my iPad and was not more than 48 hrs from a 3G cell signal, so I relied exclusively on it.

It surprises me that there isn't better technology to integrate a modem with the SSB, such as an iPad app. I find downloading a Grib via SSB through a Pacor modem onto a laptop, then converting it into a readable file is WAY TOO COMPLICATED for the 21st century.

I need an app for that!! There should be a way to connect the iPad to the SSB, dial a freq and press a button. Seriously.

01-11-2012 12:43 PM

casey1999

Question about Marine SSB. Do any of you actually use it?

Seems most commercial vessels do not use Marine SSB and would use sat phones instead. You cannot leagally talk to a land based station (other than for placement of phone calls or Coast Guard) using a Marine SSB. I also look at the emergency frequencies and most of these would seem not very dependable in an emergency- like 2182 Khz- the range of that frequency in the day is maybe a couple hundred miles and at night maybe a thousand. The other emergency freqs are not much better- as a ham operator, one of the things you realize is how undependable the SSB (HF bands) are. With an PLB or EPIRB and Sat phones now available, seems marine SSB would be on the way out. The ham portion of the SSB (HF) bands can and are very good for the cruising sailor- you probably would have better luck with a may day or pan pan on the ham bands as more people are listening to those freq (and located all over the world).

Don't worry about it. It is the previous owner's responsibility to update the information on his license, not yours. Just make sure the MMSI on the radios is your number and you are good to go.

The FCC holds the license holder responsible for the proper use of the ship license, so I made sure I canceled mine on the old boat. Last thing I wantred was someone hitting a DSC button and having someone knock on my door. Even if it's not my fault, I would have violated the rules regarding keeping information up to date.

Ok, thanks. The SSB does not have a DSC but the boats VHF does, I do not think the VHF has been programmed with the MMIS # by the PO but I will double check again- it is not hooked up to the boats GPS/chart plotter (I have programmed by Standard Handheld VHF that has a built in GPS with DSC).
Regards

As my previous post indicates, the boat's PO did not cancel their Marine SSB ships license, and I now have my own (boat has two call signs). Do I need to do anything?
Regards

Don't worry about it. It is the previous owner's responsibility to update the information on his license, not yours. Just make sure the MMSI on the radios is your number and you are good to go.

The FCC holds the license holder responsible for the proper use of the ship license, so I made sure I canceled mine on the old boat. Last thing I wantred was someone hitting a DSC button and having someone knock on my door. Even if it's not my fault, I would have violated the rules regarding keeping information up to date.

The FCC doesn't transfer licenses. If the license was from the prior owner, that prior owner should have canceled the license when the boat was sold.

If you have an RRO, you may already have a Federal Registry Number (FRN). You can get this off you RRO, or you can look it up on the FCC website. You just need to get your password, and everything else is pretty straight forward. Just take your time, and make sure all the information is entered correctly.

As my previous post indicates, the boat's PO did not cancel their Marine SSB ships license, and I now have my own (boat has two call signs). Do I need to do anything?
Regards

The above is part of the US FCC site. You can type in your boats name and search to find out what license it has. I did this with my boat and it turns out the previous owner had a Marine SSB license for the boat which is good until 2017. I also applied for a Marine SSB license and mine is good until 2020.

Does it matter the boat has two licenses and also two MMSI DSC numbers?

As far as your ICOM 7000 pro, I also have that unit and operate on ham bands (have general class). The unit may or may not be unlocked to operate on the ham bands (transmit), if it is locked, an ICOM dealer should be able to unlock the transmit for the ham bands, once you get your license.

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